The objective of this study was to investigate aspartate-amino-transferase (AST), γ-glutamyl-transferase(GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate-dehydrogenase (LDH) and acid phosphatase (AcP) activities andsemen parameters (volume, pH, concentration, total sperm number (TSN), progressive motility, dead sperm,total morphological defect (TMD) and hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST)) in seminal pl...

The aim of the present study was to determine seasonal variations in semen characteristics, testicular size, and plasma testosterone concentration in Iranian Khalkhali goats. An artificial vagina was used to collect semen from 10 bucks (2–4 years of age), from November 2013 to October 2014. Testicular circumference was higher (P<0.05) from September to October. Ejaculate volume, sperm ...

Heat stress (HS) often blamed for suboptimal reproductive efficiency and is a worldwide problem, which inflicts heavy economic losses reflected in limiting the breeding season of rabbits to be normally from September to May in northern hemisphere and subtropical regions. The present experiment was conducted to study the effect of summer heat stress and the alleviating effect of some antioxidant...

Ergothioneine (ET) is a unique natural antioxidant which mammalia acquire exclusively from their food. Recently, we have discovered an ET transporter (ETT; gene symbol SLC22A4). The existence of a specific transporter suggests a beneficial role for ET; however, the precise physiological purpose of ET is still unclear. A conspicuous site of high extracellular ET accumulation is boar seminal plas...

The rate of obesity among men of reproductive age has tripled in the last three decades. Previously, we demonstrated that paternal obesity resulted in impaired preimplantation developmental kinetics, compromised post-compaction metabolism and decreased blastocyst cell number when embryos were generated in vivo. Subsequently, using in vitro fertilization we found embryos of obese males to have a...

Spermatozoa of freshwater Cyprinidae (goldfish, carp, crucian carp and dace) remained immotile when the semen was diluted in solutions of NaCl, KCl, mannitol or glucose iso-osmolar to the seminal plasma (300 mosmol kg-1). The spermatozoa became motile in media containing these solutes if the osmolality was lower than that of the seminal plasma, suggesting that motility is suppressed by the osmo...

Ram seminal plasma increases the fertility of frozen-thawed ram spermatozoa deposited into the cervix. The aim of the current study was to compare the effect of ram seminal plasma to that of bull seminal plasma, dog prostatic fluid, protein-free TALP TrilEq (Triladyl with 0.5 mt of Equex STM paste added to each 100 mt) and heat-treated skim milk on longevity and percentages of progressively mot...

Seminal plasma diluted 1:5-1:1,000 gave marked inhibition of serum antibody complement-mediated bactericidal and opsonic effects against Neisseria gonorrhoeae and other gram-negative organisms. Serum that was bactericidal at a dilution of 1:5,120 was not bactericidal at a dilution of 1:10 when seminal plasma was added. Bactericidal action of immune human or rabbit sera, or purified immunoglobul...